Published: Friday, October 12, 2012 at 10:17 a.m.

Last Modified: Friday, October 12, 2012 at 10:17 a.m.

Alix Lambert has made documentaries about prisoners' tattoos, journalists who were murdered in Russia, and now, a serial killer who was sentenced to life in Terrebonne Parish.

“Bayou Blue” premieres at the New Orleans Film Festival on Saturday, then plays again on Monday, and features interviews with sheriff's detectives and the victim who got away from Ronald Dominique in 2006 after, investigators said, he killed 23 people.

The film will follow detectives' investigation, the victims' families, and try to address why Dominique got away with the murders for nine years.

“We were interested in a portrait of a place and less the traditional serial-killer story, especially because Dominique was not interested in speaking to us,” said Lambert, who co-directed the film with David McMahon. “We became more interested in the complex layers, the difficulties of the community, how people were relating to each other and what everyone was facing. It became more of a meditation on that area and the whole communities.”

McMahon suggested he and Lambert, both in their 40s with film backgrounds, turn Dominique's story into a documentary after he heard about a serial killer, Jeffery Lee Guillory, convicted in Baton Rouge.

“How come that case was getting so much attention, and this was not — when Guillory is accused of killing far fewer people than Dominique?” McMahon asked.

They tried to make sense of that question, “then we found a much more complex, broader story about all the difficulties that southeast Louisiana is faced with, from hurricanes to poverty to racism. ... It was a very complex story to tell,” Lambert said.

Lambert is from Washington, D.C., and McMahon is from Alabama.

“One of the things in general that's interesting to me about America is how diverse it is, and I think being in Louisiana is very different from being in New York City,” Lambert said. “I think certainly in documentaries, that's an initial appeal — to see lives that are different from your own. On a deeper level, I think sometimes people get interested in things that are foreign to them, but then they stay because there's something universal to them. We're all getting from one day to the next.”

Interviews with Ricky Wallace, or “Motormouth,” who was nearly Dominique's next victim before escaping, also play a central role in the documentary.

“Some things you just don't pass by. Just, you can feel it inside out, no matter what it is,” Wallace says in a promo for the film. “That's what it was for me. I just knew it. Oh, I just knew it.”

And although Dominique declined to talk to the filmmakers, the film plays some of Dominique's interrogation tape.

“How'd you find this place, Ronald?” an investigator asked in the promo.

“I don't know. I was just driving. Just driving,” Dominique responded.

“Is it somewhere you had been before, somewhere you worked close to?” the investigator said.

“No, I just drove and drove,” Dominique said.

“What made you turn down that street?”

“‘Cause it was dark.”

Terrebonne Sheriff Jerry Larpenter, who was sheriff at the time Dominique was prosecuted and convicted, said Dominique's killing spree really challenged his deputies.

“He's definitely a serial killer who had a lot of opportunity to kill, we know for sure, 23. Who knows if there's more?” Larpenter said.

Larpenter said his deputies spent more time on this case than any he can remember since the 1970s, and although it's a tragedy that he got away with so many murders, he's glad that Dominique was finally caught.

“He's the only witness,” Larpenter said of the murders Dominique was convicted of. “That's why it's sometimes so hard to solve murders.”

The film premieres in New Orleans at 5:45 p.m. Saturday at the Contemporary Arts Center and at 1:30 p.m. Monday at Prytania Theatre.

Staff Writer Katie Urbaszewski can be reached at 448-7617 or katie.urbaszewski@dailycomet.com

<p>Alix Lambert has made documentaries about prisoners' tattoos, journalists who were murdered in Russia, and now, a serial killer who was sentenced to life in Terrebonne Parish.</p><p>“Bayou Blue” premieres at the New Orleans Film Festival on Saturday, then plays again on Monday, and features interviews with sheriff's detectives and the victim who got away from Ronald Dominique in 2006 after, investigators said, he killed 23 people.</p><p>The film will follow detectives' investigation, the victims' families, and try to address why Dominique got away with the murders for nine years.</p><p>“We were interested in a portrait of a place and less the traditional serial-killer story, especially because Dominique was not interested in speaking to us,” said Lambert, who co-directed the film with David McMahon. “We became more interested in the complex layers, the difficulties of the community, how people were relating to each other and what everyone was facing. It became more of a meditation on that area and the whole communities.”</p><p>McMahon suggested he and Lambert, both in their 40s with film backgrounds, turn Dominique's story into a documentary after he heard about a serial killer, Jeffery Lee Guillory, convicted in Baton Rouge. </p><p>“How come that case was getting so much attention, and this was not — when Guillory is accused of killing far fewer people than Dominique?” McMahon asked. </p><p>They tried to make sense of that question, “then we found a much more complex, broader story about all the difficulties that southeast Louisiana is faced with, from hurricanes to poverty to racism. ... It was a very complex story to tell,” Lambert said.</p><p>Lambert is from Washington, D.C., and McMahon is from Alabama. </p><p>“One of the things in general that's interesting to me about America is how diverse it is, and I think being in Louisiana is very different from being in New York City,” Lambert said. “I think certainly in documentaries, that's an initial appeal — to see lives that are different from your own. On a deeper level, I think sometimes people get interested in things that are foreign to them, but then they stay because there's something universal to them. We're all getting from one day to the next.”</p><p>Interviews with Ricky Wallace, or “Motormouth,” who was nearly Dominique's next victim before escaping, also play a central role in the documentary. </p><p>“Some things you just don't pass by. Just, you can feel it inside out, no matter what it is,” Wallace says in a promo for the film. “That's what it was for me. I just knew it. Oh, I just knew it.”</p><p>And although Dominique declined to talk to the filmmakers, the film plays some of Dominique's interrogation tape.</p><p>“How'd you find this place, Ronald?” an investigator asked in the promo.</p><p>“I don't know. I was just driving. Just driving,” Dominique responded.</p><p>“Is it somewhere you had been before, somewhere you worked close to?” the investigator said.</p><p>“No, I just drove and drove,” Dominique said.</p><p>“What made you turn down that street?”</p><p>“'Cause it was dark.”</p><p>Terrebonne Sheriff Jerry Larpenter, who was sheriff at the time Dominique was prosecuted and convicted, said Dominique's killing spree really challenged his deputies.</p><p>“He's definitely a serial killer who had a lot of opportunity to kill, we know for sure, 23. Who knows if there's more?” Larpenter said. </p><p>Larpenter said his deputies spent more time on this case than any he can remember since the 1970s, and although it's a tragedy that he got away with so many murders, he's glad that Dominique was finally caught.</p><p>“He's the only witness,” Larpenter said of the murders Dominique was convicted of. “That's why it's sometimes so hard to solve murders.” </p><p>The film premieres in New Orleans at 5:45 p.m. Saturday at the Contemporary Arts Center and at 1:30 p.m. Monday at Prytania Theatre.</p><p>Staff Writer Katie Urbaszewski can be reached at 448-7617 or katie.urbaszewski@dailycomet.com</p>